Wanting to read something other than “the usual” I have found these groups on LibraryThing recently (similar may also be on GoodReads).
Perhaps they might help others, too? You don’t need to be a member to steal the idea, but if you do have access to see the groups, you might find ideas for books, too.

Fifty States Fiction (or Nonfiction) Challenge
Read a book for each of the 50 states in the USA.

The Europe Endless Challenge
Reading your way through all countries in Europe!

Canadian Fiction/Non-Fiction Reading Challenge
Read your way across Canada’s provinces and territories.

Erlesenes Deutschland
Read across Germany (all Bundesländer)

Don’t like “US, Europe, Germany or Canada” as a challenge - why not choose your own country?
Reading Globally and Reading Globally II (US, UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia)
Try to read each country in the world.
(They have devided the world into parts - e.g. Africa is devided into 6 areas)

Alphabet Challenges
Read the Alphabet (authors and/or titles)

US Presidents Challenge

Read at least one book about every single US president from George Washington to the one elected next year (Obama or a new president) - before the 2016 election.
Don’t want to read about US presidents? Choose other types of rulers/politicians from somewhere else  - time/location.
The 11 in 11 Category Challenge
Read books from 11 different categories in 2011. The number of books per category is entirely up to you, and it need not be the same number for each category (e.g., “step” challenges are fine). (I guess there will be a 12 in 12-group, too. Not to early to start thinking about categories - members have very inventive categories.)

Here are some inventive examples of categories for 11 in 11:

• Authors that are new to me
• National authors
• Books that have been patiently waiting in my TBR (To Be Read) pile for 6 months or more.
• Books that have been listed for notable prizes.
• Books set in Asia (reader tends to read UK/US-ish)
• Books that catch my eye
• Books from a series (doesn’t have to be the same series)
• Recommendations from someone/somewhere
• Travel writing (category walled: Wanderlust)
• Books made into movies.
• A Book I Previously Failed To Finish (just 1 book in this category)
• Books that have no reviews on (some book site) yet
• White Books - Have love, life, light or laugh (or variations) in the title for my bright side
• Black Books - Have dead, death, night or dark (or variations) in the title for my dark side
• Oldies - any book with a copyright before I was born
• The Irish
• The Sea, Shipwrecks, Pirates and Survival
• Non-Fiction
• Translated books
• Books in another language
• Short Story Collections
• Re-reads
• Autumn/Halloween Reads
• Spotlight on (author - perhaps recently deceased)
• Books about conflict, war, survival
• Young at Heart - YA and Children’s fiction
• Jewish writers
• Books set on the European continent
• Books that I have discovered from blogs, sites, other books, writers etc.
• Down Under - Australian and New Zealand fiction
• Magic in the Air: Folklore, fairytale, myths: retellings, anthologies, academic etc.

Some people have chosen to read 11 books in each category, other have settled for 4 (so 44 books in 1 year). Others have decided on 1 in category no. 1, 2 in no. 2, etc. (so 66 in a year).

You can choose whatever categories you want and as you decide the rules, you can rule that a certain book fits into a specific category. I read about one guy who wanted to read about January’s snow, cold and ice in January. He fit a book into that category that didn’t fit with the “snow, cold and ice”, but where the protagonist was called “January”.

One tip: When choosing categories, don’t limit yourself unnecessarily. E.g. if you want to read about Abraham Lincoln, don’t make the category solely about him - include the time he lived in, too. That way you don’t get into trouble if you all of a sudden want to read about the American Civil War (where he was president). Better safe than sorry.

My mother tends to read very “white”  (caucasian) and UK (1066-1900)/US (1800-1940). These are her categories:

1. War (the act and times)
2. Non-Anglo Saxon (i.e. not US/UK Caucasian)
3. Not of this world (SFF and pseudo-sciences)
4. Women Writers
5. Prized books (anything shortlisted for a prize of some sorts)
6. Rainbow (colour in the title)
7. Forensic Science (mysteries and non-fiction)
8. Not known lives (biographies of people she does not know/know very well)
9. Series (next in a series or about series, e.g. serialkillers)
10. Four elements (personalities or “Earth, Water, Fire and Air”)
11. For my own sake (anything else!)

She wants to see if she can read at least 3-4 books per category. So far, she needs to find some for category 5 and 6.  The others are starting to look ok, and 3-4 categories have reached the min. 3-4 books (and have more). She still gets to read “white UK/US”, but must read something else, too this year. Focusing on this challenge will probably make her read more things that she normally wouldn’t stumble upon.

I’m still working on my 11 categories… but I think I will partiicpate for 12 in 12.

As for the other challenges, I cannot see why I can’t start on them, too. Just to see how far I get over time. One book can easily fit into several challenges! Why waste a title? And I don’t care if I read them in print, on the Kindle or hear them as an audiobook.

Tags: Audiobooks, Books

On my iPod at the moment I am reading “The Science of James Bond: From Bullets to Bowler Hats to Boat Jumps, the Real Technology Behind 007’s Fabulous Films” by Lois H. Gresh and Robert Weiberg.

I have read some of their other books:

The Science of Superheroes (2005)

The Science of Supervillains (2004)

The book is about the gadgets in the movies, not the books. Quite fun to see that I thought were movies that were always at the forefront of technology in many cases weren’t that high tech at all. (I obviously didn’t see many of them when they first came out, but only years later.)

Learn about why Bond has a Walther PPK and not a spcialized gun, what a dirty bomb is and cars that become invisible or can turn into a submarine. Delightful light reading. Written for the layman.

The book follows in the footsteps of the books by Laurence M. Krauss:

The Physics of Star Trek (1995)

Beyond Star Trek: From Alien Invasions to the End of Time  (1997)

All great books if you have just a bit of a nerdy strain within you.

Tags: Audiobooks, Books

Just finished a book called “Mousetrapped: A Year and A Bit in Orlando, Florida” by Catherine Ryan Howard. At 24 Catherine from Cork, Ireland went to Florida to work for a hotel by Disney World for 18 months. She writes in a very engaging way so you end up green - not the colour of Ireland, but with envy - and wishing you had done that when you where younger.

Mousetrapped - the book

It is not a book about Disney, but about living and working in the tourist industry in Orlando. That part of Florida might be most known by some for Disney World, but there is also Universal Studio Theme Park, Kennedy Space Center, The Holy Land Experience (a religious theme park), Sea World, Gatorland and Celebration (Disney-built town).

To me it was a nice light summer read. As a Dane I have no problems with her spectator comments on the Christian religion (Catherine calls herself an atheist), but I can see how some Americans could easily choke on it.
The ending might be a bit weak, but in all a good read - I totally agree with the 4 stars (of 5) that readers have given the book at Amazon.

The only part of the book that troubled me was reading about her learning to drive - given the strict law in Denmark about how to learn this, the relaxed fashion she describes (ok, she doesn’t quite do it according to Florida law) is quite disturbing - but then I do like to play it safe when it comes to traffic and am greatful that new drivers in Denmark start out in “the crib” nowadays.

Extra material (cut chapter and photos) can be found on the book’s website.

Price in hardback and paperback are around 13-14$, whereas the Kindle version is only 3$.

The author has a new book coming out soon about her backpack adventure across Central America - right after her Florida adventure. She has also published an apparently good book about selfpublishing

Tags: Books

Annalisa’s (mizu72) paackage arrived Saturday morning just as I was about to go to the annual crafts fair, but I did manage to quickly open it, so I didn’t end up buying the same things.
This has to be the most amazing package I have ever received! Long have I been somewhat envious of the packages that where being sent and received on the North American continent due to the low postage rates within that area. So normally people have to think about the weight of what they send. This time, however, my package was sent from Italy, and boy did Annalisa pack the box!

There are 7 skeins of Sesia Mistral Baby and a skein of South West Trading Company TOFUtsies, 28 skeins of wool embroidery yarn in a multitude of colours, 3 x 3 types of tea and some coffee (with wheat? - need to find an Italian dictionary ), plus 3 tiny glasses with Nutella. These are just perfect! I recently started in a new job in Copenhagen and eat my second breakfast on the job (part of the breakfast/lunch package available) and these tiny glases will come in very handy on the days when I don’t feel like cheese. As I always have Nutella at home, they are easy to fill up once empty. Great!

Thanks a million Annalisa! What a fantastic package.

Tags: Swaps

A few weeks ago I wrote about Coming Clean’s 8-week war on clutter. I said I would take it easy - and I have.

Since the last update I have cleaned out the bathroom, and organized my stash of yarn. So now I have about 200 yarns in my stash at Ravelry - all beautifully (well…) photographed and entered with all available information. I’ve also been able to photograph my UFOs, and some of my older pullovers and sweaters - just to show, that I can knit other things besides socks!

While I was photographing my yarn, the Burmese were out in the garden with me. So I snapped at few of them, too.

Two boys in the sun while everything is calm…

A short while later this…

Yes, the “bully” is the elder og larger brother. He is the strongest of all of the cats, but only plays, luckily. Neither of his younger litter-siblings are afraid of fighting with him, although they always end up loosing.

Bashing in the sun…

And then their close-ups:

Númenor

Anduin

Khazad(-Dum)

Tags: Organization, Other blogs

Slowly does it - eventually I will get there! I got my CueCat and have been scanned barcodes like crazy. Still I have only entered just over 800 books so far. A guestimate, there is still 4/5 to go.

I have entered one shelf of cookery books, and still have at least 5 shelves - the ones with the smaller books. A lot of the gardening and house plant books, all the history, science, encyclopedias, dictionaries and basically all the fiction is still to go.

Too bad I use a pc, and not a mac. I would love to be able to add my DVDs and CDs, too. Of well, can’t have it all, I guess.

Tags: Books

It is amazing how many food groups that are out there. Here are some more I recently discovered:

You Want Pies with That (YWPwT) makes, well, pies - of every conceivable kind. Once a month you make a pie chosen by the host. You bake your pie, take a picture and post it to your blog before the 7th of the month. In May you could make any pie that reminded you of your childhood. I am not sure that you always can choose whatever you want, there might be some restraints at times. The July theme was “Nuts” (incl. coconut). On their website you can see photos of the baked pies  - all with links to the original blog posts, and I assume, recipe.

Cookie Carnival is a wonderful group. Every month you choose to sign up for the upcoming challenge (without knowing what it is, I believe), and all you have to do afterwards is bake the chosen cookies, post the pictures and wait and see how the other’s turn out. This you can see in the monthly round-up on their website.

Here you can see how to join. In June they made Strawberry Shortcake Cookies (Martha Stewart), for July they had Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Graze. This is a group that everyone interested in baking should be able to join. If you don’t like the cookies, I am sure that neighbours, friends or co-workers would love to dispose them.

Bread Baking Day (BBD) is an invention of a German in Spain. They are currently on their 23rd edition, where this time you are to bake “something you haven’t tried before”. For every challenge you participate in you get a logo with the equivalent number on.  Other challenges have been: Country Bread, Pizza, Multigrain Bread, Quick Breads, Sweet Breads, Bread with Potatoes, Bread with Cheese, Shaped Breads, Flat Breads, Celebration Breads, Breads with Rye Sourdoughs, Filled Breads, Breads and Spices, Bread with Fruit, Breads with Oats, Breads with Herbs, Breakfast Breads, Breads with Sprouts, Small Breads, Coloured Breads, 100% Grain Breads and Festive Breads. Sounds like a healthy group to participate in, and with only one bread a month I think I should be able to make it.

Bread Baking Babes (BBB) is a challenge where you get a recipe for some type of bread and then have one week (I think) to bake it. As usual, photos are sent to the central blog. Some of the later challenges has been Sukkar bi Tahin from Beirut (Tahini Swirls), Ethiopian Sourdough Crepes, Italian Knot Breads, Pan Francese, 5-grain Bread with Walnuts and Asparagus Bread. The recipes are posted on the site with the challenge. Sounds like something I should participate in.

Recipes to Rival (R2R) is akin to Daring Kitchen’s Daring Cooks. You are not allowed to miss two challenges in a row and must be active in the forum. Their mission statement is: “To provide savory challenges that introduce new techniques and flavors and provide a supportive environment where we can work together and share the experience.”They started in June 08 and have made Coq au Vin, Ricotta, Steak Diane, Squash Soup with Vanilla Creme Fraiche, Chinese Dumplings, Tamales, Brushetta and Limocello, Beef Wellington and Ratatouille. Your can see the blog roll on their website, that is a bit behind in the updates.

Tags: Food

A few weeks ago I wrote about Coming Clean’s 8-week war on clutter. I said I would take it easy - and I have.

So far I have removed the clutter from the bedroom (week 1) and organized the deep freezer (week 2).

In the coming weeks I am hoping to do the garden shed, the office (a big task…) and the bathroom. We’ll just have to see how it goes.

Tags: Organization, Other blogs

Yesterday I found a new group: My Kitchen, My World.

The idea here is to cook something from the chosen country. Two countries are chosen each month, one for week 2 and one for week 4 of the month. You chose your own recipe and whether you want to cook or bake. All you have to do is make a post about it on your blog and send in a small picture with a link. Then when the round-up comes on the official blog, you can see what everyone has made. You are asked to try to make at least one dish from one of the month’s countries (and apparently, they will not kick you out if you miss that).

They have so far been through the following coutries:

Argentina
Australia
Azernaijan
Brazil
Cambodia
China
Cuba
Ecuador
England
Ethiopia
France
Germany
Greece
Guatemala
India
Indonesia
Iran
Ireland (twice)
Italy
Jamaica
Korea
Lithuania
Macedonia
Mexico (twice, perhaps three times)
Morocco
Pakistan
Puerto Rico
Spain
Switzerland
Thailand
The Bahamas
The Philippines
Turkey
Ukraine
“Your own country”

So no US so far (I wonder why…) - and no Nordic country, but plenty of Latin American countries. Hmm…

Tags: Food, My Kitchen My World

I’m an Organizing Junkie has a reoccuring post every week: Menu Plan Monday. On her site you can see her reasons for planning ahead, and tips to how to do it. She also has templates for the menu plan itself, as well as for grocery lists. She also has quite a few different little pictures for you to chose from when announcing your weekly dinner plan.

The idea is to sit down with your cookbooks, the Internet and look through the grocery store flyers and plan one week’s worth of dinners. That way you can 1) go shopping “once” (apart from small things like fresh milk), 2) find things that use up the leftover from other recipes (do you use all the carrots from the bunch?)  and 3) you can start preparing beforehand (remember to take out something from the freezer the night before and thaw slowly). There were 329 families making their own weekly plan a few weeks ago - and adding links to their weekly menu. Nice for inspiration. Obviously, if the recipe you are using is online you link to it. Here is this weeks list of Menu Plans.

I kind of like the idea, but don’t have any intention of signing on officially just yet. That would probably be too stressful - making commitments. Better to just try and do it “out of free will” - with a back door open.

Oh, well. No-one will check up on me to see that we actually follow the plan precisely.

So here is my trial week:

Here’s what we will be eating this week:

Monday - Thai Oven-baked Pork Chops with Rice (premade last week and in freezer)

Tuesday - Five O’clock Tea with the new marmelades and cucumber sandwich

Wednesday - Mex Mac and Cheese

Thursday - Coconut Chicken with Rice (premade last week and in freezer)

Friday - Wienerschnitzel with Rösti (always packed in 4s - and we are only 2)

Saturday - Wienerschnitzel with Rösti

Sunday - Turkey Spinach Meatloaf with Tomato Sauce and Ovenbaked Potatoes (premade last week and in freezer)

Yes, about 50% of the week is premade and in the freezer. We made 15 different recipes last week with between 2 and 12 servings. That is about 43 days of dinners for two.

We also made quite a lot of marmelades: Pear-Strawberry, English Rhubarb, Rhubard-Gooseberry, Blackberry-Pear, Blackberry, Blackberry-Raspberry, Strawberry-Grape, Cherry-Red Currant, Black Currant-Red Currant, “Forestberry” (Strawberry, Blueberry, Blackberry, Raspberry), Peach-Melon, Red Currant jam and Red Currant jelly. 18 kilos (40 pounds) of fruit in total.

What a week! But SO worth it afterwards.

Tags: Menu Plan Monday